Gearing.



E. A. HALBLBIB.

GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, 1913.

1 0 7 2 Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

wfittmswm [lnwmnwr 3 FIG EDWARD HALBLEIB, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applieationfiled April 5, 1913. Serial No. 759,253.

mover is employed alternatively as a motor to start the engine, and as a generator to store energy in a storage-battery or other device, the gearing in question being employed to connect the prime-mover with the engine for both of these purposes. I

In apparatus of the type in question it has been proposed to employ gear in which automatic clutches are em mied, such gearing operating at different speed ratios according'as the prime-mover or the engine constitutes the source of power, so

that the prime mover may be normally driven at a comparatively low speed suitable for generating, while it may drive the engine through a higher gear ratio when acting as a motor. Such gearing, when entirely automatic in action, has the characteristic -that it tends to lock itself automat-ically against reverse movement. Accordingly, in

a motor-vehicle equipped with starting-ap paratus of the type in question, in case the 1 engme comes to rest as, for example, bv being stalled, while it is connected, throught-he usual transmission-gearing, with thetraction-wheels of the vehicle, and while the vehicle is moving up a sloping surface on. which it tends to move backwardly when at rest, the gearing of the starting-apparatus tends to resist such backward movement,

through its connection with the traction-.

mechanism of the vehicle. Where the starting-mechanism is connected directly with a rotating part of the engine this tendency is not a matter of.consequence, for the reason that the disengagement of the usual drivingclutch acts to disconnect the starting-mechanism, as well as the engine, from the transmission-mechanism of the vehicle. In cer-' tain cases, however, it is more convenient to connect the starting-mechanism to the driving-mechanism of the vehicle in the rear of the drivingclutch, and in such a case the conditions above, referred to cannot be relieved by the release of the driving-clutch In consequence of this fact the sliding-jaw clutch commonly employed in the transmission-mechanism of the vehicle may be subjected, under the circumstances in question,

to a torque by which it is rendered diificult or impossible to disengage its members by means of the usual hand-levers, as is necessary before the engine and the vehiclecan be started again.

One object of the present invention is to 1 provide an automatic gearing, for use in Patented Fania, 191a.

connection with engine-starting mechanism of the type in question, wherein provision is made for avoiding the objectionable condition just pointed out; and to this end I .propose to employ means, in the nature of a clutch, embodied in the gearing and'operati've to disconnect its elements in such a manner as to avoid the automatic lockingaction of the gearing. More particularly, I

propose to actuate this clutch by connection with the means by which theusual drivingclutch of the vehicle is'normally operated,- so that the gear is unlocked without any at tention or, any additional movement on the part of the operator of the vehicle.

Other objects of the invention, and the features of construction by which they are attained, will be set forth in connection with the following description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings;'--Figure 1' is a side-elevation showing, in vertical-section, a gear-' ing embodying the present invention, and illustrating, diagrammatically, certain arts of the power-mechanism .of a motor-ve iclein connection with which it is employed; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 in Fig, 1, looking from left to right in the latter figure. I

The invention is illustrated as embodied in connection with a gearing constructed in accordance with my pending application, Serial No. 673,271, filed January 24,1912. In thatapp-lication I disclosed a gearing in which the automatic action results from-the use of roller-clutches, and in which frictional connections are employed to prevent the gearing from being loc'kedpositively against reverse rotation in the event of a back-kick. In the present case, for convenience and simplicity in construct-ion, I ut-ilize'suo'h frictional connections also for the present purpose of unlocking the gearing to release the its transmission-mechanism of the vehicle, the frictional connections being in the form of a cltuch which may be disengaged for this purpose.

In Fig. 1 a portion of the electric machine or motor-generator 5 is illustrated, together with the gearing 6 of a starting-mechanism, the engine 7 and the transmission-gearing 8 of the vehicle, and the driving-clutch 9 by which the engine is connected with or disconnected from the transmission-gearing in the usual manner.

The armature-shaft 11 of the generator 5 is connected, by a coupling 12, with a shaft 13 constituting a part of the gearing by which the generator is connected with the engine, and this shaft is hereinafter referred to as the secondary shaft. It is journaled in a casing 14:, and is provided, near its right-hand end, with an enlargement of which the periphery forms a clutch-element 15. This clutch-element, as shown in Fig. 2, has inclined pockets in which are supported spring-pressed friction rollers 16. These rollers coiiperate with a smooth internal surface on a shell'17,'which constitutes the outer member of the clutch, and the operation of these parts is such that when the member 17 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, the rollers grip against this member so as to drive the member 15, and the shaft 13, at the same speed as the member; 17, and cause the electric machine to be actuated as a generator. The clutch-memher 17 is integral with a shaft 18, also journaled in the casing 14 in line with the shafts 11 and 13, and this shaft18 is provided with a sprocket+whe el 19 by which it may be connected, through a sprocket-chain, with a rotary-member or shaft connected with the engine. The shaft 18 is hereinafter designated as the rimary shaft.

To permit t e electricmachine to actuate the engine, for the purpose of starting the latter, at a greatly reduced speed-ratio, the shaft 13 is provided with an integralpinion 20, which meshes with a gear-wheel 21 rotatable about a shaft 22 mounted in the easing 14.. This gear-wheel 21 is connected with a pinion 23', which meshes'with a gearwheel 25 mounted to rotate concentrically with the clutch-member 17. As in my said application, the geanwheel 25 is annular in form, and is supported, at its inner surface, upon friction-rollers 26 resting in inclined pgckets in the periphery of the clutch-memr 17, as shown in Fig; 2. The operation of these parts is such that when the electric machine acts as a motor the pinion 20 drives the gear 21, and the pinion 23 drives the gear 25, in the direction of the arrows ap plied to these parts in Fig. 2, and the friction-rollers 26 cause the clutch-member 17 to be driven by, and at the same speed as, the gear 25, whereby the shaft 18 and the sprocket 19 are driven by the electric machine, but at a lower speed of rotation than that of the armature-shaft, and the rotation of the sprocket-wheel is communicated, in

turn, to the engine through the connections provided for that purpose.

The frictional connections hereinbefore referred to are provided between the gear 21 and the pinion 23, as shown in Fig. 1. To this end the gear 21 has an annular rim which is fastened, by screws 28, to a plate 27 journaled loosely at its center, upon the shaft 22. The rim of the gear isprovided with a conical clutch-surface 29, which is engaged by a corresponding surface on a clutch-member 3O inte ral with the pinion 23. The clutch sur aces are normally pressed into engagement by the action of compression-springs 31 mounted loosely upon studs 32 fixed to the inner surface of the plate 27 These springs .press against a friction-plate 33, loosely mounted on the shaft 22 and engaging the inner surface of the clutch-member 30, whereby the conical clutch-surfaces are forced together by the resulting axial movement of the parts upon the shaft 22. l

The gearing, as so far described, is substantially the same in construction and operation as the gearing of my said application, and the present invention is embodied particularly in the combination, with theabove-described parts, of means whereby the friction-clutch just described may be disengaged when necessary. To this end the shaft 22 is arranged to be movable longitudinally in its hearings in the casing 14, and a lever 16 is pivoted between lugs 18 fixed to the casing, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper end of this lever may engage the right-hand end of the shaft 22, so that when the lower endof the lever is swung outwardly the shaft is moved longitudinally, in a left-hand direction. The shaft is provided with a shoulder 19 which engages the right-hand surface of the friction-plate 33. Accordingly the longitudinal movement of the shaft causes this shoulder to press the friction-plate away from the clutch-member 30, thus relieving the clutch-members from the pressure of the springs 31. In order that the clutch-members may be entirely free from each other the shaft 22 is provided also with a shoulder 50 adapted to engage a washer 51 adjacent the pinion 23, and the continued movement of the shaft causes the shoulder 50 and the washer 51 to force the pinion and theclutch-m'ember 30 to the left, thus disengaging the clutch-member entirely from the clutch-surface 29 on the gear 21. When the friction-clutch is disengaged, as just described, the gearing no longer has any locking-action by which reverse rotation of the sprocket-Wheel 19 may be prevented.

To illustrate the manner in which my improved gearing is employed in connect-ion trated the lever 46 as connected, through a link 47, with the clutch-lever 36,- whichis journaled, in the usual manner upon a shaft or stud 37, and provided, at its upper end, with a pedal 38. The lower end of the clutch-lever cooperates, in the usual manner, with the sliding clutch-cone 34, which is normally pressed into engagement with the corresponding clutch-surface on the flywheel of the engine 7 by means of a spring 35. The sprocket-wheel 19 is indicated diagrammatically as connected, by a chain 41, with a sprocket-wheel 40 on the power-shaft 39 of the vehicle, and this power-shaft is connected with the drive-shaft 42 of the vehicle by means of the -usual transmissionmechanism 8. This mechanism is shown diagrammatically as comprising the usual jaw-clutch for direct driving between the power-shaft and the drive-shaft, this clutch having a member 43- fixed to the drive-shaft,

and a member 44 splined to the power-shaft and controlled by a manually-operable lever 45. It will be apparent that in case the engine becomes stalled when driving the vehicle, through the jaw-clutch, upon rising ground, so that the vehicle, after coming to rest, tends to run backwardly, the tractive eflcrts of the wheels will be transmitted, through the drive-shaft and the jaw-clutch, to the sprocket-wheel 40, the chain 41 and the sprocketwheel 19, and will tend to cause reverse rotation in the gearing. This reverse rotation will be normally resisted by the locking action of the gearing, owing to the operation of the unidirectional clutches therein, and the frictional connection aiforded by the friction clutch embodied in the gearing is sufiicient to substantially resist such reverse movement, so that the members-43 and 44%of the jaw-clutch will be pressed firmly together, rendering it difficult or impossible to shift the member 44 out of cotiperation with the member 43 In such a case, however, if'the' pedal 38 be depressed to disconnect the driving-clutch 9,.

it acts at the same time, through the connections above described, to disconnect the friction-clutch in the gearing, whereupon the sprocket-wheel 19 in the gearing may rotate backwardly freely, thus relieving the torque upon the jaw-clutch and permitting it to be operated.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but may be embodied in various other forms 'within the nature ofthe invention as it is'defined in the following claims.

I claim 1. Gearing having, in combination, a primary rotary member; a secondary rotary 7 member; irreversible mechamsm connectmg said members, whereby they may drive each other at different speed ratios according as one or the other constitutes the driver, said mechanism including a normally-operative clutch; and -means for throwing the clutch out of operation to permit reverse rotation ofone of said rotary members.

- 2; Gearing having, in combination, a primary rotary member; a secondary rotary member; irreversible mechanism connecting said members, whereby they may drive each other at difierent speed-ratios according as one or the other constitutes the driver,- said mechanism including a normally-operative spring-controlled clutch; and manuallyoperable means for throwing the clutch out of operation to permit reverse rotation of one of said rotary members.

3. The combination, with a motor-generator, an engine, transmission-mechanism, a driving-clutch connecting the engine and the transmission-mechanism, and manuallyoperable means for throwing said clutch out of operation; of irreversible gearing connecting the motor-generator with the transmission-mechanism, whereby the motor-generator may drive the transmission-mechanism or the transmission-mechanism may drive the motor-generator, at diflerent speed-ratios according as one or the other constitutes the driver, said'gearing'including a normally-operative clutch; and connections between the last-mentioned clutch and said manually-operable means, whereby said clutch may be thrown out of operation simultaneously with the drivingclutch. v

.4. The combination, with a motor-generator, an engine, transmission-mechanism, and a driving-clutch for connecting the engine and the transmission-mechanism; of gearing normally connecting the motor-generator and the transmissio-n'mechanism and including a normally-operative clutch; and manually-operable means for throwing both of said clutches simultaneously out of operation, whereby the transmissiommechanism may be disconnected from both the engine and. the motor-generator,

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB.

Witnesses:

FARNUM F. Dorsey, D. Gunman. 

